April 13 commemoration of the onset of the Lebanese war: Tenzakar ta ma ten3ad

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

Tenzakar w ma ten3ad - a popular Lebanese saying that means "may it be remembered and not repeated", as we remember the onset of the Lebanese war on April 13 1975, the slogan was changed by an ad agency (am guilty of not knowing which agency!) for a civic campaign that went "tenzakar ta ma ten3ad" - which means "may it be remembered so as not to be repeated". That simple stroke of genius in terms of linguistics makes it one of the most effective post-war slogans and my fear is that maybe we did not learn the lesson.